As a senior and longtime member of AARP, I am concerned about people like myself not being able to afford the medicine we need.

The average EPIC enrollee is 78 years old and on four prescriptions. Right now, the EPIC wrap around covers prescription drugs that Medicare Part D prescription drug plan will not cover.

Eliminating the wrap-around is unfair, especially since the state has continually ensured older New Yorkers that they would not have to worry about whether they would have coverage for their prescription drugs.

When seniors resort to splitting their pills to make them last longer or they simply don’t fill their prescriptions because they can’t afford to, everyone pays. Unhealthy people cost the health-care system — and, in turn, taxpayers — more money in the long run.

The time has come for the New York Legislature to do the right thing and reject the proposed cuts to EPIC so that seniors can continue to afford their medicines.